Turning the Corner
by LordB
Summary: Yata and Numata are arguing again. Sometimes Karatsu finds it entertaining, other times it's just annoying.


Yata and Numata are arguing again.

On the one hand it is incredibly annoying, but on the other Karatsu finds it highly entertaining. This time the cause of the argument is Numata's reckless driving, rather than Yata's foul-mouthed puppet as is usually the case. They were on one of the more normal delivery jobs; packing up the boxes in the back of van and leaving just enough room for Yata to sit behind the driver's and passenger's seats. It was cramped, and the boxes precarious- Karatsu had had a feeling that any sharp corners they turned would cause them topple over and, of course, they would land on Yata.

But Numata didn't think about this. He probably won't the next time either. Or the time after that. Yata would most likely have to have his skull cracked open by a particularly heavy box before Numata would learn to drive more carefully. Karatsu _does_ worry about this sometimes. Okay, so maybe he doesn't lie awake at night terrified about the next delivery, but when he gets into the passenger seat with Numata driving and Yata crouching in the back with the boxes _that's_ when he starts to think about it, and _that's_ when he becomes a little concerned about Numata being allowed control of the steering wheel and especially the accelerator.

Not surprisingly, Karatsu's initial feelings had been correct; Numata had turned that corner a little too sharply and, lo and behold, the boxes fell catching Yata on the shoulder- the corner of the box tearing into the skin of his neck and drawing a small amount of blood which had formed a little bead before making its way slowly down his neck to stain the collar of his jacket.

Yata had given a little "yah!" which was closely followed by crash as the boxes fell to the floor of the van. It was the crash that had caused Numata to stop suddenly making more boxes drop and catch Yata on the back. He gave another little moan and Karatsu had twisted in his seat to ask if he was okay. He was answered by a small nod from Yata and an outburst from Kereellis.

"_Fuckin' Goatee! Did a monkey teach you to drive or what?"_

"You can shut up, it was only a few boxes! And it wasn't _my_ idea to pile them up that high!" Numata growled back whilst looking over his shoulder at the puppet.

"_Heaven help us whenever_you _get an idea, shit-for-brains. Those sunglasses stop you from reading the speed limits?"_

Numata's hand shot out to grab Kereellis, crushing Yata's wrist at the same time. The smaller man yelped as his wrist was squeezed .

This brings us up to the present moment. Numata has a hold of Yata's wrist, only wanting the puppet to shut the hell up and at the same time hurting the alien's host body. Yata tries to push the other's hand away but lacks the strength to do so and Karatsu feels he has to step in now to stop any bones from breaking.

"Come on Numata, let go, you'll hurt him" he says, trying to be the voice of reason. Numata "humphs" and turns back to start the van again, bottom lip sticking out in a pout.

"_You're not really going to let him carry on driving, are you? How about we change the route so he can drive through a school zone too? 30 points if you can knock over the fat kid."_

Numata whips round again with gritted teeth, Yata throws himself back and out of the other's reach saying to his hand:

"Come on, Kereellis, that was completely unnecessary!"

Numata undoes his seatbelt and attempts to clamber over his chair to get to Yata and his offensive hand, but Karatsu catches him around the waist before he can hurl himself at the smallest of the three and cause some permanent damage to both the cargo and offending body (or rather, offending puppet). After a struggle Numata is back in his seat but not willing to put his seatbelt back on or turn the engine on in case he needs to react quickly to another of the puppet's comments. A sigh issues from Karatsu's lips and he wonders if he should drive next time and make Numata sit in the back.

* * *

Fun fact: This was written before I realised they had a back seat. Around volume 9, I think that was.


End file.
